The sovereignty of God empowered Him to chosen individuals, groups or nations to accomplish His plan. When the Jews left Egypt, God said to them, “For you are a holy people to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth” (Deut. 7:6). Read the rest of this paragraph to see that they were not chosen because they were better than others, but He chose them because of His sovereign right.
There were twelve tribes, and God, as His sovereign right, selected one tribe above all the rest to serve in Him at the temple. No other individual from any tribe had a right to enter the Holy Place or serve Him at His altars. The Lord said this about the place of the Levites, “For the Lord your God has chosen him out of all your tribes to stand to minister in the name of the Lord, him and his sons forever” (Deut. 18:5).
Not all Levites were priests. They had to be males of a particular age and have no physical blemishes. Moses and David divided those qualified into twenty-four separate groups who came to the temple to serve for one week, about twice each year. There was one other vital stipulation, but before looking at it, take time to see the application of these truths. Christianity is vastly different for every child of God is a priest in the Lord’s church. Peter says, “You also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1 Pet. 2:5). Hebrews chapter thirteen adds this to these truths, “Therefore by Him, let us continually offer the sacrifices of praises to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name…to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased” (vs. 15-16).
Now take another look at how God gave one more requirement for priests. “If a Levite comes… with all the desire of his mind to place which the Lord chooses, then he may serve in the name of the Lord his God” (Deut. 18:5-6). It was not enough for one to meet the tribal or physical qualifications in order to serve Him. These were external in their nature. He could meet every one of them but there was something more important. Look at the “if/then” nature of what is said. IF a Levite comes with all the desire of his mind, THEN he may serve in the name of the Lord. He could not serve acceptably unless such serve was all the desire of his mind!
We must never view those times when we come together to offer the fruit of our lips in worship without bringing all the desire of our hearts and souls as part of worship. Think soberly about it as you worship this week!